介绍:
（下拉有中英对照文本）
On the morning of the fourteenth of July, Maître Tardieu received a letter from the count Kalliovski for the attention of the marquis. It was written in white ink on black paper with three words inscribed in red at the bottom. Maître Tardieu knew that he must inform the marquis of its contents immediately.
The elderly lawyer looked not unlike a mole with his thick round spectacles stuck firmly on the end of his nose.
He called for his carriage while Madame Tardieu, terrified by the idea of her husband traveling when Paris. The city was in such turmoil, pleaded with him not to go.
“Chéri, please,” she begged. “Look at what happened yesterday. The people are arming themselves. There will be fighting in the streets. We shall all be killed.” She crossed herself.
“Stay calm, my dear,” said Maître Tardieu. You are to stay indoors and not set foot outside, my pet.”
七月十四日的早晨，Maître Tardieu接到了一封kalliovski伯爵写给侯爵的信。这封信黑纸白字，底部有红色的三个字。Maître Tardieu知道自己必须立即告知侯爵。
这位年长的律师看上去像一只鼹鼠，厚厚的圆眼镜紧紧地贴在鼻子的末端。
他叫来了自己的马车，而Madame Tardieu，害怕丈夫去巴黎。巴黎一片混乱，恳求丈夫不要去。
“求你了，”妻子恳求道。“看看昨天发生了什么事。庶民拿起了武器。街上会有战斗的。”她说：“我们都会被杀死的。”。
“冷静点，亲爱的” Maître Tardieu说。你呆在家里就好，不要出去。”
He sat back in his seat as the carriage rumbled through Paris with the curtains drawn. Twice, men with cockades in their hats and brandishing pitchforks stopped the carriage and demanded that Maître Tardieu get out while they searched it for firearms. It was with a great sigh of relief that he finally arrived outside the wall that encircled Paris, and set out on the road to Versailles.
The journey gave MaîtreTardieu time to reflect on the past, and he felt a profound sadness when he thought of the late marquis. He had lost his adored
younger son, Armand. His elder son, mean-spirited and extravagant, had always been a trial to him. Maître Tardieu remembered how appalled the old marquis had been to see the indifference with which his son greeted the news of his wife’s death.
他回到座位上，窗帘拉的紧紧的，马车驶过了巴黎。有两次，男人拿着帽子帽章，挥舞着干草叉停住马车，要求Maître Tardieu下车，搜寻有没有枪支。来到了巴黎的城墙外，他终于松了一口气踏上了去往Versailles的道路。
这趟旅程给了Maître Tardieu时间反思过去，想到了老侯爵，他感到深切的悲伤。侯爵失去了小儿子Armand，大儿子刻薄对人，却又奢侈无比，这对他来说是一个考验。Maître Tardieu记得老侯爵看到他的儿子对妻子死亡的消息如此冷漠，曾觉得很吃惊。
Maître Tardieu finally arrived. He was made to wait for a further hour and a half, without refreshment, before the marquis deigned to receive him. Even then he refused to talk business until he had first shown the lawyer around his grounds.
The marquis strolled on put out that the lawyer seemed so unappreciative of the beauties on offer.
“Have you noticed that the flowers match the colors of the bows on my shoes?”
To the tired eyes of Maître Tardieu, all looked gray and dead.
The marquis now said that he never discussed business in the afternoon, but was prepared to listen to the lawyer’s concerns over supper.
Maître Tardieu总算到了目的地。他又等了一个半小时，没人来接待他，直到侯爵过来了。但是就算到了这个时候，他还拒绝谈事情，随后，律师带着他四处参观。
侯爵走了，律师似乎不是很乐意。
“你觉得这种花色和我鞋子上的蝴蝶结颜色相配吗？”“
Maître Tardieu眼睛里满是疲惫，看上去灰沉沉的，一片死气。
侯爵说自己从不在下午谈生意，准备听律师对晚餐有什么意见。
While the marquis was resting, Maître Tardieu took the opportunity to talk to the steward and to examine the household accounts. He was appalled to discover
just how much money the marquis had spent on the garden. Not only had there been the designers, the hothouses, and the rare flowers and shrubs to pay for,
but the marquis had had a network of secret tunnels built under the flower beds so that the gardeners could crawl down them each morning and discreetly
change the flowers to match his outfit. The birdsong that followed his every step came from aviaries strategically hidden behind the greenery. Such folly came at a high price.
侯爵休息的时候，Maître Tardieu趁机跟管家检查了账目。这让他很是震惊。侯爵建造这个花园里花了多少钱？建造这个花园不仅要付钱给设计师，温室，罕见的花和灌木，侯爵还在花坛下面建了一条秘密隧道，这样园丁们每天早晨都可以顺着爬下去摘花以至于能够搭配他的衣服。每走一步都有鸟鸣声，绿叶后掩藏着鸟舍。这样建造下来，花费了太多太多。
What shocked Maître Tardieu even more was what he learned about Sido had been confined to her chamber for the past seven months—Maybe it was this, and the remembrance of what she had meant to her grandfather, that finally made Maître Tardieu decide to throw caution to the winds and to speak his mind,
whatever the outcome.
At last the lawyer and the marquis sat down to dine, the marquis at the head of the long table. The room was ablaze with candles, even though it was still light outside.
"Sir,” said Maître Tardieu, “as you know, I have come at some considerable inconvenience—”
“If you have come here to tell me any more ridiculous tales about the disturbances in Paris,” the marquis interrupted, “I am not interested.
A candle blew out and a footman came forward to relight it.
“No, no, no!” Shouted the marquis, bringing down his bejeweled hand on the table. “How many times must I tell you? Always use a new candle, never relight
an old one.”
Maître Tardieu听说在过去的七个月里，Sido曾被软禁在屋子里，更是震惊了，也许想起了Sido的爷爷，Maître Tardieu决定不顾一切，说出自己的想法，无论结果怎么样。
最后，律师和侯爵坐下来吃饭，侯爵坐在长桌子前。尽管外面还很亮，房间里已经点燃了蜡烛，
“先生，”Maître Tardieu，“我来可能带来了很大的麻烦。”
“如果你来这里是想告诉我关于巴黎动乱的事，”侯爵打断他说，“我不感兴趣。”。
蜡烛灭了，一个仆人上前重新点燃它。
“不，不，不！“侯爵喊道，把自己的手放在桌上。“我要告诉你多少次？换一支新蜡烛，不要点燃熄灭了的就蜡烛。”
In desperation Maître Tardieu decided to force his employer to pay attention. He took the letter from his waistcoat pocket and handed it to one of the footmen
to give to the marquis.
“What is this?” said the marquis, waving the letter away. “Do you intend to ruin my digestion?”
“It is from Count Kalliovski.”
“Oh, I see. Well, read it to me if you must.”
Maître Tardieu很是绝望，他想要吸引雇主的注意力。从背心口袋里拿出一封信交给仆人，让其交给侯爵。
“这是什么？”侯爵挥舞着信说。“你想影响我的胃口吗？”
“这是Kalliovski伯爵的来信。”
“哦，我知道了。好吧，如果你一定要读给我听的话。”
“Perhaps, sir, it would be better if the letter were read in private.”
“We are in private.”
“Forgive me, but we have in this room a butler and five footmen who can hear every word I am about to say.”
“Don’t be absurd, man. They are merely here to serve me and have no opinions of their own. They are less important than the furniture and definitely less valuable.”
“Very well,” said Maître Tardieu.
He began to read slowly and carefully so that master and servants could hear every word.
“也许，先生，我们私底下看这封信会更好。”
“我们这就是私下啊。”
“请原谅我，但这个房间里的管家和五个仆人都能听到我将要说的话。”
“别傻了，他们只是在这里为侍奉我。他们没有一点自己的主见,甚至还不如家具重要，一点都不值钱。”
“那好吧，”Maître Tardieu说。
他开始慢慢地、仔细地读这封，以便主人和仆人能听到每一个字。
“What does he mean?” said the marquis.
“Exactly what he says. He wants his money back with interest and he wants it before the end of the month.”
“That is ridiculous. Kindly acknowledge the letter and point out that there seems to have been a misunderstanding.”
Maître Tardieu had reached the end of his tether. Throwing diplomacy and caution aside, he said, “Sir. You are near bankrupt. There is no money left. I have
warned you on many occasions, but you have refused to take my advice. Now I fear it is too late.”
“What! You sit at my table and have the impudence to talk to me so? How dare you!”
Maître Tardieu silenced him. “There is more, and it is of even more consequence.”
“他这是什么意思？侯爵说。
“就是他说的意思。他希望在月底之前得到自己应得的。”
“那太荒唐了。请给他回信，并善意地指出这里可能有些误会。”
Maître Tardieu已经忍到极点了。不再说漂亮话和保持谨慎的态度，说：“先生。你快破产了。你没有钱了。我曾多次警告过你，可你却拒绝接受我的劝告。现在恐怕太晚了。”
“什么！你坐在我的餐桌前，竟然这样对我说话？你怎么敢!“
Maître Tardieu沉默让他安静下来。“恐怕我还要说更多，而且更重要的话。”
----每周一/三/五晚更----
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